First Published in 2006. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

The Rights of Woman as Chimera examines Mary Wollstonecraft's intellectual relationship to Rousseau, Locke, and Aristotle. Although she learned much from each philosopher, her own thought cannot be said to be simply derivative of these thinkers. In considering "the woman question," Wollstonecraft levels important, but friendly, critiques of her male predecessors. She puts forth a conception of the nature of woman, which is informed by and consistent with her larger political philosophy, and this study endeavors to outline this conception of the nature of woman.

In the two centuries since Mary Wollstonecraft published A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792), she has become an icon of modern feminism: a stature that has paradoxically obscured her real historic significance. In the most in-depth study to date of Wollstonecraft s thought, Barbara Taylor develops an alternative reading of her as a writer steeped in the utopianism of Britain s radical Enlightenment. Wollstonecraft s feminist aspirations, Taylor shows, were part of a revolutionary programme for universal equality and moral perfection that reached its zenith during the political upheavals of the 1790s but had its roots in the radical-Protestant Enlightenment. Drawing on all of Wollstonecraft s works, and locating them in a vividly detailed account of her intellectual world and troubled personal history, Taylor provides a compelling portrait of this fascinating and profoundly influential thinker.

A novel and important argument that the articulation of women’s rights was a necessary prerequisite to the development of a coherent and universal theory of human rights. This title was made Open Access by libraries from around the world through Knowledge Unlatched.

Ever since Godwin announced to the world in Memoirs that Wollstonecraft had had little use for religion, most biographers, scholars, historians and readers have regarded her as an apostate. Further, the existing scholarly texts fail to demonstrate the pervasiveness of biblical references in A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. The true tally of scriptural references approaches over 1,100 as identified in this study. Wollstonecraft’s biblical allusions, besides sheer volume, are noteworthy because they gave women a biblical basis upon which to contend for better education and occupational opportunities as well as for legal and political independence. That the arguments were couched in biblical rhetoric most likely contributed to their initial reception and tolerance of what were incendiary ideas and searing social criticism. The recognition and analysis of biblical underpinnings in Wollstonecraft and Religion not only of Rights of Woman but also of her other publications and letters propose new consideration regarding the Mother of Feminism and her work. The chapters that accompany the annotated text of Rights of Woman furnish biographical and historical context that offer fresh perspectives about Wollstonecraft’s religious convictions and faith, many of which have not been published elsewhere.

The Rights of Woman as Chimera examines Mary Wollstonecraft's intellectual relationship to Rousseau, Locke, and Aristotle. Although she learned much from each philosopher, her own thought cannot be said to be simply derivative of these thinkers. In considering "the woman question," Wollstonecraft levels important, but friendly, critiques of her male predecessors. She puts forth a conception of the nature of woman, which is informed by and consistent with her larger political philosophy, and this study endeavors to outline this conception of the nature of woman.

A comprehensive survey of the current context and ethical implications of human-nonhuman genetic combinations. The idea of human-nonhuman combinations has been a recurrent theme throughout the history of humanity. From the myths of the Minotaur and the centaurs in ancient Greece to the dogheads of the Middle Ages right through to the monsters of modern science fiction, these beings have always been a source of fascination. In recent years, however, biomedical advances have demonstrated the potential to make these entities a reality through the creation of inter-species combinations. As a result, pressing and perplexing ethical questions arise. Introducing the reader to the historical context of human-nonhuman experimentation and potential future developments, this volume offers clarification, analysis and a thorough overview of the ethical challenges relating to human-nonhuman chimeras, true hybrids, cybrids and other combinations. This book is the first accessible survey of the different ethical dilemmas facing contemporary society in the creation of human-nonhuman embryonic, foetal and postnatal entities. These include important cultural, legal, philosophical and religious perspectives. As such it will act as a springboard for future debate.